This invention relates to physiological monitoring of organisms, including human patients.
Patients receiving health care often require physiological measurements to be taken over relatively long periods of time. These measurements can be relatively easily taken when a patient is localized, for example during a hospital stay. In those instances, the patient can be connected to physiological monitors directly coupled to central stations that monitor and record patient data such as heart rate, breathing rates, blood pressure, ECG and EEG signals, and blood chemistry information.
Often patients require such physiological monitoring at home, away from a hospital setting. Holter monitoring is often used to perform such measurements. With Holter monitoring, the patient wears a portable data recorder that makes a tape recording of continuous physiological data such as from an ECG or EEG. Usually the Holter monitoring unit is unobtrusive enough so that the patient can perform usual day-to-day activities with little discomfort or encumbrance. Periodically, the patient must return the unit with its data to the doctor or technician to download and review the recorded data. Sometimes the lag from data recording to data review can be too long in relation to the relative urgency of the patient's condition. Additionally, having to return the recorded tapes can be inconvenient when multiple recordings are necessary. Many Holter monitoring units now use digital storage systems such as removable flash memory cards and the like.
Recently, real-time remote physiological monitors have been developed. Such real-time monitors typically include a portable monitoring unit worn by the patient, a base station that communicates with the portable unit, and a central data collection station. The portable unit performs the physiological measurements in a manner similar to a Holter unit, but instead of making a self-contained recording, transmits the data to the base station via a wireless link (e.g., by RF or IR transmission). The base station is located somewhere near the patient. As the base station receives the real-time data, it simultaneously retransmits it to a central station via a communication link, typically the public telephone system. This real-time form of physiological monitoring allows data to be sent from patient to care giver within a matter of seconds. This allows for a faster diagnosis and a quicker response to emergencies relative to traditional Holter monitoring.